Reactor polls 50 authors about their favourite SFFH books

[afeelingunacted]

It’s a great time to read speculative fiction.

We asked over 50 authors about the most iconic SFF books of this century. Here's what they had to say.https://t.co/Gc9tsAPHUo
- Reactor (formerly Tor.com) (@reactormag) October 30, 2024

• Most mentioned book was The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. Others dubbed "Most iconic" include The Hunger Games,

Comments

[squirrels_oh_no]

Well, idk about the 21st century offhand, but if you want to read my fave EVER, it's A Door into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Door_into_Ocean A Door into Ocean is a 1986 feminist science fiction novel by Joan Slonczewski. It is the first book in Slonczewski's Elysium Cycle. The novel's themes include ecofeminism and nonviolent revolution, as well as Slonczewski's own knowledge in the field of biology.

Oh, and I guess I like the Murderbot books LOL. Also Vita Nostra but NOT the sequel fuck that book, and Saga, and the Traitor Baru Cormorant.

eta: But this list is very Tor heavy, I wonder why hmm hmm hmm. But also because Tor basically IS sci-fi/fantasy these days (although more publishers are leaning into it, except not so much literary stuff *cough* romantasy *cough*)

[afeelingunacted]

But also because Tor basically IS sci-fi/fantasy these days (although more publishers are leaning into it, except not so much literary stuff *cough* romantasy *cough*)

I so want to end Tor supremacy because there is so much good speculative stuff they don't get out that gets completely ignored because the speculative awards are a Tor circle jerk. I was talking with an editor who has her own imprint at a small press and she said it's almost impossible to get coverage of her books with Reactor and Locus because they are basically funded by Tor who will pay for ads and cover reveals and other stuff.

Stelliform, Undertow Books, and Neon Hemlock specifically do SFFH, but I've read so many good things from other small presses. ECW, Two Dollar Radio, Greywolf, Catapult, Wolsak & Wynn, Autumn House Press all publish literary stuff but put out SFFH books too that get ignored.

[squirrels_oh_no]

Well, given that Reactor is formerly tordotcom, I can get why!

I also really like Angry Robot. Under the Pendulum Sun was great.

[alwayspolaris]

Adding that to my reading list :)

[afeelingunacted]

I mentioned this in one of the FFA but Canadian indie spec fic is having such a moment right now. Think it's kind of funny to look at this list and only Arboreality by Rebecca Campbell is there.

I filled out my ballot and I don't even remember everyone I included but Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis, The Doll's Alphabet by Camilla Grudova and Skin Thief by Suzan Palumbo were def on it.

Also I had a lot of poc (Mohsin Hamid and Helen Oyeyemi also made my list).

[kittenmittons]

I’m going to need to check some of these out! Thank you for the recs! <3

[kz3e]

I would love to see this Canadian indie spec fic list if it's not too much trouble! I think I'm burnt out from mainstream authors recs in SFFH, so if there are any biPOC authors on that list, then that's even better! I'll check out what you've listed so far. Thank you!

[afeelingunacted]

Some super recent picks. Also ECW and Stelliform put out a lot of good sci fi stuff.

POC/Canadian authors:
Chrysalis by Anuja Varghese
I Am AI by Ai Jiang
The Annual Migration of Clouds/We Speak Through the Mountain by Premee Mohamed
The Grimmer by Naben Ruthnum
Skin Thief by Suzan Palumbo
Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris
Bird Suit by Sydney Hegele

White Canadians:
The Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan
The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits by Ben Berman Ghan
Has the World Ended Yet? by Peter Darbyshire
Her Body Among Animals by Paola Ferrante
The Embroidery Book by Kate Heartfield (she does a lot of historical fantasy which is somehow bigger in the UK than Canada).

[distant_lines]

OMG I'm so down the election rabbit hole at this point that I saw the word polls and it took me far too long to realize this wasn't an election post.

I read The Fifth Season and didn't really love it, and now it's been so long since I read it that I don't know if I can even read the rest of the series. I want to read it all just to understand why it's so popular even if I still never really love it. I should find some kind of video or something to watch to get me back up to speed for me to read the other 2 at some point.

[anagramofbrat]

I love NK Jemisen but the fifth season didn't grab me either. I like her Inheritance trilogy and the Cities duology way better.

[distant_lines]

Maybe I'll consider that series a wash and try her other ones. I try to always finish a book or series that I start, but I'm getting to the point where I'm not even able to read the books I really want to, so I should definitely stop spending any time reading a book I don't love.

[helyanwe89]

I didn't love The Fifth Season but I did read the whole trilogy.

The Ten Thousand Kingdoms I had a hard time getting into & the title is very misleading imo.

[tanglespiders]

My favorites are probably the Murderbot series and the Expanse, and then I saw FMA on the list and realized that’s above both of them. I also really loved 20th Century Boys.

I’m currently reading the Vorkosigan Saga, but I’m still in the 90s books, so I can’t add them to the list though I’m sure I would.

[helyanwe89]

I listened to one of those books. Shards of Honour - the library had it as audiobook only.

[kittenmittons]

2000-2024 is way too wide of a range for me to wrap my head around; I respectfully abstain.

But the list of most iconic has some solid choices: loved The Fifth Season, Jade City, Gideon the Ninth, A Memory Called Empire, Piranesi, and Station Eleven the most, but also a fan of All Systems Red, Ancillary Justice, Vita Nostra, The Goblin Emperor, The Hunger Games, The Only Good Indians, Babel, Six of Crows, Uprooted, This Is How You Lose The Time War, and The Traitor Baru Cormorant.

Egregiously missing The Bear and the Nightingale, how dare they. And because I just checked its release date and it was 2000 and up: Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series deserves her flowers (the years 2000-2010 seem kinda underrepresented here, really).

[anus]

Yeah I'm surprised The Bear and the Nightingale aren't here considering I see that listed in so many "must read" fantasy series posts. Also surprised Mistborn isn't listed even in notable mentions.